§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) the present African population of Sierra Leone; and what is the number of illiterates;
(2) the present non-European population of British Guiana; and what is the number of illiterates;
(3) the present African population of Nyasaland; and what is the number of illiterates;
(4) the present African population of Nigeria; and what is the number of illiterates.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodThe latest estimates of the populations of the territories named are as follows:
Sierra Leone: Africans (mid 1959) 2,258,000 British Guiana: Non-Europeans (end 1958) 535,130 Nyasaland: Africans (mid 1959) 2,770,000 Federation of Nigeria: Africans (mid 1959) 35,257,000 Recent census information on illiteracy is not available. The last census figures were as follows:
Territory Date Population Percentage Illiterate British Guiana. 1946 10 years and over, Non-Europeans. 22 Nyasaland 1945 All ages, Africans. 93 Nigeria 1952–53 All ages, Africans. 87 Sierra Leone (Colony). 1948 All ages, Africans. 29 These figures are however derived from censuses held 10 to 15 years ago and in two cases had to be calculated on the total population in the absence of suitable analyses by age groups: for these reasons their use today would be misleading. A new census was conducted in British Guiana last month, and the results are now being analysed. Plans are being made for censuses to be held in the other three territories in the near future.